VPRO
VPRO is a public service broadcaster in the Netherlands and part of the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep (NPO). The company is based in Hilversum .
history
VPRO was founded in 1926 as a religious radio station for the “free-thinking” ( liberal ) Protestants . The name VPRO was originally the abbreviation for Vrijzinnig Protestantse Radio Omroep (German: "Freisinnig-Protestantischer Rundfunk"). According to the broadcasting time resolution (Zendtijdbesluit) of May 15, 1930, the VPRO was given six hours per week in which to broadcast its program on the Hilversum station , while the other program slots were the socialist Vereeniging van Arbeiders Radio Amateurs (VARA) and the liberal non-denominational) Algemene Vereniging Radio Omroep (AVRO) belonged. In addition to the AVRO, the VARA, the conservative-Calvinist NCRV and the Catholic KRO , VPRO was one of the five member associations of the Nederlandse Radio Unie (NRU) from 1947 . In 1952 VPRO also entered the television business as part of the Nederlandse Televisie Stichting (NTS).
In 1968 VPRO let go of the religious denomination behind the acronym. Since then, VPRO has become the most innovative and alternative broadcaster on Dutch national radio and television. In 1967, for example, Phil Bloom was the first naked woman to be seen on Dutch television in a VPRO program. In terms of its standards, the program is similar to ARTE , but often more unconventional.
Like all public service programs in the Netherlands, VPRO does not operate its own broadcasting channel; rather, it shares broadcasting time on radio and television with other programs within the Dutch public service broadcasting system, the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep (NPO), similar to Germany the programs of Das Erste and ARD are produced by various regional broadcasters. Unlike in Germany, however, the institutions are supported by member-based associations. In July 2014, VPRO had 339,623 members. This makes it one of the major member associations with "A status" within the NPO.
